Staff Found With Body at Jamestown Fort

JUSTIN BERGMAN

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Associated Press Writer

A decorative staff found with skeletal remains at the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America indicates the man was a high-ranking official of the colony, archaeologists said Wednesday.

Officials at the Jamestown fort said the remains could belong to Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, second-in-command at the founding of the Jamestown settlement.

Experts said the discovery could be one of the most significant archaeological finds of early colonial history.

"This is absolutely the best preserved skeleton we've found from this time period and I'm totally surprised by the quality of it," said Douglas Owsley, a forensic osteologist at the Smithsonian Institution who has analyzed the remains.

William Kelso, director of archaeology for the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, said researchers will try to extract a DNA sample from the skeleton's tooth or femur to match with a living descendant of the Gosnold family.

In 1606, Gosnold commanded the Godspeed, one of three ships that landed 107 settlers at Jamestown in May 1607. He helped design the triangular fort where they lived.

Capt. John Smith, credited with leading and ultimately saving the colony, described Gosnold as "the prime mover behind the settlement."

Gosnold also discovered and named Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard.

Kelso said the remains will eventually be reburied at Jamestown. Officials would like to include many of the artifacts in the 400th anniversary celebration of the founding of the colony in 2007.

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The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities: www.apva.org